Category: 1947-1955Page 2 of 17

Also known as the “Atomic Age” of comics, the post war era of the Golden Age is characterized by a shift away from the superhero into other types of titles in order to meet consumer demand and drive circulation and sales. In their haste to keep circulation up, some publishers pushed the envelope further and further beyond what some considered good taste. (One can imagine, however, the taste of war hardened adult readers after returning from battlefronts might have been edgier than what some might have considered child appropriate). Regardless, hastened by Dr. Fredric Werthham’s book Seduction of the Innocents, the U.S. Congress got involved and the Comic Code Authority, a self-regulating body, was formed in 1954. This along with the explosion of televisions into households across the country ushered in the end of the era.

Zorro (Four Color #617)

American pulp writer Johnston McCulley debuted Zorro (Spanish for fox) in the novel The Curse of Capistrano. The story was published over five installments starting August 9, 1919…

Hawk

The Hawk was a comic series that ran for twelve issues.  The first three were published by Ziff Davis, while St. John carried on publishing issues #4 through…

Red Ryder Comics

Due to the incredible decades long popularity of the Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun it is forgivable to assume the comic character Red Ryder was derived from it….

True Love Pictorial

Artist Matt Baker and writer Dana Dutch were the Leonardo Da Vinci and William Shakespeare of romance comics in the 1950’s.  The cover of True Love Pictorial #11…

Romantic Marriage

This classic romance painted cover is by an unknown artist, from Romantic Marriage #9 published by Ziff-Davis January 1952.  In addition to the stunning cover, the “Wife Welcomes…

Ohio pedigree

The Ohio pedigree gets its name in part because the actual original owner’s name is unknown.  He or she chose to remain anonymous but resided in Ohio (comics…

Crippen “D” pedigree

If you were to start collecting Golden Age comics from scratch today, it wouldn’t take long to run into “pedigree copies.” Thanks to original owners who collected comics…

Treasure Chest

Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact was similar to True Comics  in that it was aimed as a “healthy” alternative to standard comics of the day.  It was…

I Met a Handsome Cowboy

Cowgirl Romances, Flaming Western Romances, Cowboy Love, Romances of the West – comics frequently tapped into pulp magazines for inspiration and it was no different for the romantic…

True Comics

From today’s perspective (based on comic superhero’s massive popularity in the movies) it might be surprising to know that True Comics was a relatively popular comic series.  It…